Archive for the ‘France’ Category

If you ‘re not into politics, don’t worry, this is not a political post, promise . But, please, let me vent a little. I have been hoping THAT guy ( whose name I shall not utter ) will not start a nuclear war . That’s all. Other than that, I can live a blissful life despite the nefarious existence of this man After all, I believe I’ve become inured to all the shenanigans that are going on at the White House. Regarding this man’s remarks about those immigrants who come from SHITHOLE COUNTRIES ( and further said he’d rather get immigrants from Norway ) I am neither surprised nor outraged . This man is a gadawful racist, we all know that, but I don’t blame him. I blame those who had enabled this man to be elected, and I’m not even referring to those who directly voted for him, mind you. They love him. You know whom I’m referring to, and you know who you are. Your incomprehensible hatred ( and irrational contempt , and because it’s cool and hip to hate ) of a rival candidate trumped the potential destruction of everything that we hold dear in America by this man. I hope you’re satisfied and happy now.

Moving along…….

As the title says, this is not a political post. This is actually a post acknowledging @Planet Simon’s Mystery Blogger Award nomination to yours truly . Although I’m not nominating bloggers, I’m going to answer interesting questions he has for his nominees. Here they are:

a) What do you hope to better yourself in this year ?

I hope to better myself in my eating habits. I did eat binge during this past holiday season, ( as expected, of course ), mostly sweet desserts, cakes, heavy meat dishes, etc. I hope to change that this year and for years to come.

b) What was your favorite Christmas yummy ?

Oh, dear. I guess, pork bbq ? (._.”)

c) What in the world now worries you more or want to see changed ?

I worry about pollution of land, air and water resources and the amount of garbage that humans throw out every second.

d) What’s your favorite biscuit ?

Does this refer to UK biscuit which is actually a cookie here in the US ? If it’s a cookie, I love Macademia nuts//white chocolate cookie. By the way, in the Philippines , snack Filipinos call biscuits is like ” Saltines ” here in the US. I just bought ” Skyflakes ” biscuits at the Filipino supermarket last Saturday. Filipino girls usually eat ” Skyflakes ” biscuits when they’re dieting, or, according to my mother, that was her lunch when she’d run out of lunch money at school. ” cough ” I’m also on diet, hence , Skyflakes . So good with coffee or soda.

e) What s on Netflix right now that you can’t help watching ?

Two…… Planet 2 and The Charisma of Adolf Hitler. About the latter…. don’t judge. I just want to know what makes dictators and authoritarians tick.

Hi, there ! ! Just photos this time. I won’t write much because it’s Monday, and Mondays s*ck. Before anything else, those who are interested in reading my manga/anime site, check it out HERE.

Here are some photos of my last day in Paris…. in fact, the last day of my 30 day tour of Europe.

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I had liver pate ( I love liver ), and escargot ( fancy name for snail ).

I need to say this , though….. tipping in Europe is massive.. We had to tip those serenaders, the waiters, the tour manager, the bus driver. If you bought a tour package for a certain amount, never , ever think that’s all you’re gonna spend. Some dinners aren’t free. You can opt out and not join the group, and eat at McDonald’s , or pay $ 75 each for a lousy dinner in Monaco , or $ 70 in Rome. Since my cousin and I didn’t really have money , my mother had to shoulder everything , for herself, for me and my 14 year old cousin. For the tour manager and bus driver, it was $ 14 tip each day from one tourist, and since it was a 30 – day tour, the amount totaled $ 420 each person, and since there were 3 of us ( Mom, myself and cousin ), we had to pay $ 1,260. Take note…. there were 50 of us in the group. Good thing credit card was accepted. If dinner was at the hotel we were staying in, then it was free. Unfortunately, the group always ate out , in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Switzerland, Venice. Even some tours weren’t free, like the Rheine River cruise, etc. So, be sure to bring plenty of cash. One thing though, we drank wine like it was water, one bottle per person, I kid you not. Every night was Happy Hour.

And one more thing, before Paris, I had this impression the Mona Lisa painting was huge. Guess what, it’s small, about a foot and a half long

I have tons of pics taken at the Louvre Museum. The Louvre was the residence of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV. The ostentatiousness was breathtaking. ” They don’t have bread ? Let them eat cake. ” , said Marie, in response to massive hunger and poverty at that time. No wonder she got her head cut off.

Alright, this is it for now. Peace .

My sister , Mom , and I just signed up to work for Hillary. I walk my talk.

There are tons of current issues I’d like to write about, but I promised I would wind down my European travelogue, so here it is, as promised.

My lovely, regular readers know my family is building a vacation house at Boracay island in the Philippines. We thought construction would be finished in March but a super storm happened, unfortunately . It is a 3 level house with 7 bedrooms, and yes, we do plan to rent out the whole house or individual rooms to tourists. Although it’s now almost 99% finished, we still need to furnish it, and you know, we have no investors, everything is out of pocket, our pockets, and I guess, we are already at our limit, as far as finances go.

That’s how it looked in November. ( That’s my dad in yellow shirt ) I wish I could show here some recent photos , but our aunt is so computer -challenged she doesn’t even know how to email pictures. * shakes head *

We originally planned to go to Japan and some Southeast Asian countries , but I guess that ‘s cancelled now. I’m very disappointed. Oh, well. It’s okay….. I don’t think a one-month Philippine vacation is enough, anyways….. there are so much to do there and so much to see, and I’ll take tons of pictures. Oh, by the way, my brother and his girlfriend are coming too, but they are going to France first, and from there, fly to the Philippines. We don’t know if we’ll get to meet up with them, though. We hope not. My mother said it would be troublesome to take care of 2 more people. Ha ha .

Speaking of France……Paris is the last leg of our European tour. We’ve been to Nice, Carcassone, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Amboise, Avignon, ( all in France) and I’ve already posted some pictures of Paris.. and the photo below of the Eiffel Tower. I’m posting it again because I look very happy in it.

So without further ado….

The following photos are those of The Louvre Museum’s .

Below is the back entrance. The size of European cars fascinates me because my eyes are used to big, American cars. Guess what, Mini cars are already being advertised on TV here in the US. I just watched a commercial for a Mini a while ago, a cute yellow one.

Below is the entrance to the Museum.

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That triangle structure looks kind of out of place in front of the imposing palace.

Now for the awesome art objects inside Louvre.

* stares* I’m wondering about the pose. Or maybe not. Maybe that was just the way they posed. Cool.

There’s a lot of movement in these later Roman statues. Gorgeous.

You can feel the movement of those muscles.

* stares * Oh. my. word. He’s beautiful ! ! !

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Alright, enough of the nekkid male statues. Below is Venus de Milo, goddess of beauty.

I bet you haven’t seen Venus’ behind.

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Photo below is Athena ( not sure )

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This is all for now, folks. Next post is still Louvre Museum. The place has thousands of art objects ! Stand by for the Mona Lisa !

Oh, yeah, Manny Pacquiao , a champion Philippine boxer just won over Bradly. We watched it a few hours ago on paid HBO special. Okay, I didn’t watch it. I don’t like boxing.

I was hoping I could publish at least 3 posts in September, but I just didn’t have the time. All my blogging time was spent reading a backlog of unread subscriptions. At this moment , I’m scared to check out my email folder. ” So, why are you scared, Ren? It doesn’t make sense. Just delete.” Problem is, I don’t delete unread subscriptions. I read all of them, every single word. Heck, I even click the links if they say click HERE, and watch all the videos. This time , I think I will. I can actually delete everything in one click, but then, I get to delete even the ones I want to preserve for eternity. Maybe I can keep them somewhere, I know there’s a place for them . As of 2 days ago, my unread emails number is …. 0_0″…….. 25,000. Have mercy.

And by the way, these humungous emails make my reading soooooooooo slow. It takes about a minute to get one email deleted. Sometimes it doesn;t even delete and I have to click again, and wait another minute.

I am already overwhelmed. So please let me to start over again from zero. Oh, and these are getting in the way of blogging. I need to read them, too. ( ~_~)”

Oh, yeah, those too. Ha ha ha. You know what they say… all work and no play makes Jill whatever. Reading comics and mangas entertain me. Yep, Spiderman, and Walking Dead, the original. You do know this TV show is based on the comics, right? Oh, and lookit ! The new Spiderman is a Black teenager ! Cool ! ! * You do know Parker, the original Spiderman died, right ? *

*ponders*

Are you aware there’s something big going on here in the US ? The Federal government had been shut down, and to date, it’s still closed. Normally, I’d be ranting , huffing and puffing and what have you, here on WP, but I’ve decided to keep my lips zipped. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. . The issue is affordable care act ( ACA ) or what we call Obamacare. I just wish for everyone to have access to affordable health insurance. People shouldn’t die because they are poor.

It’s funny that the republicans also opposed mandated Social Security contributions and Medicare and Medicaid when they were first taken up and later implemented by Democrats half a century ago. They said it was a socialist/communistic policy that had no place in a democratic and free society . And now, 98 % of retired seniors have only their Social Security pension and Medicare to depend on. Republicans seem to abhor anything that will provide assistance to the poor, even a health insurance that’s not even free, just made affordable for everyone, including the poor. Heck , they hate anything that regulates potentially abusive business practices and laissez faire economy. One more thing, we were mandated to have all vehicles insured, why not our health ? There’s something seriously wrong with the mindset, I tell you. Hey, it’s for the common good, folks. Get over it. Even if you’re still young and healthy now you’d thank Obamacare when you get prostrate or breast cancer later in life. Enroll now and be secure.

Shown here is the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and additional photos of the Eiffel Tower taken on our second day in Paris. We were there on our first day. And guess what, we came back on the third day.

Notre Dame Cathedral by Seine River.

.The girl in the pic is my cousin. The senior man is part of tour group, from Australia.

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aaaargh ! Good thing , Paris fashion police didn’t arrest me. What the heck is that outfit . Sheer black blouse and a white undershirt. It’s an abomination. Who wears that? He hehe…. Take note, this photo was taken the day before the last day of our Euro tour… we;d run out of clothes to wear ! We were allowed one luggage each with specific dimension, not big enough for a one – month tour. Oh, we brought enough unmentionables, so perish the thought. We wore a fresh one everyday. ( though I wore the same blue jeans for one week. Ha ha ha )

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The Photos taken inside Notre Dame are bad because we were not allowed to use flash. The originals are totally dark, like the photo below.

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.Do you see that mini-balcony in the photo ? That’s the pulpit. That’s where the priests used to deliver their ” sermons”. Modern churches don’t have this anymore.

Well, this is it for now. My next post will be the last of my Euro tour, I hope. Oh, I did say I was going to have a countdown to my next trip to Asia in summer of 2014, just like what I did before my Euro tour . Well, it’s 9 months to go ! ! !

I wrote about the beach house my family is building on Boracay Island, Philippines. If you haven’t read it, it’s here. We’ve been calling our aunt in the Philippines to check on the progress of construction. As of last week, the foundation had been dug and they had already put the rebars , etc. The original plan was just a one -story duplex, one unit for rent, and one for the family. We’ve since altered the plan. Now it’s a two-story house with 6 bedrooms and 4 toilet/baths. I/m worried my parents and aunt have bitten off more than they could chew, but I trust they can do this. They have supervised construction of several properties, after all..However, though they are all rentals too, this is the first time they’re going into this kind of business… We classify it as Vacation House for Rent by Owner and we’re going to advertise it as such. Locals and foreigners can reserve the house at VRBO.com ( Vacation Rental By Owner ) by February, 2014. It’s 7,000 Philippines pesos a day ( USD150). That’s cheap, considering that the cheapest room at nearby Shangrila Hotel is USD300. Ours is the whole house that can accomodate at least 12 persons. During low season, we’ll rent out individual rooms for $30 /day. We’re still figuring out how this can be done. Oh, and the most important thing is to have it advertised in South Korea and Japan in their own language, especially South Korea.

Speaking of which…….

There was a joke that went around in the Philippines during the North Korea crisis. They say the South Koreans are not worried about North Korea because half of the population of S.Korea are already residing in the Philippines. Ha ha . J/k

Currently, dozens of US Embassies in the Middle East, and North Africa have been closed indefinitely, or on high alert. Americans are warned not to travel to these countries. Well, you can travel to the Philippines. Two days ago, Chris Matthews on Hardball announced a list of top 5 countries that view The US most favorably. # 5 is Kenya ( Pres. Obama’;s father was from there) and guess what is # 1. Tadaaaa ! The Philippines. 86% of the country view the US favorably. I expected England and Japan to be # 1 …. surprisingly, no. So, fellow Americans, we’re welcome there, very much so.

Okay, enough of self-promotion.On to my Paris tour, as promised.

The following are photos of Paris street scenes and fine architecture.

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The Seine River , Notre Dame Cathedral is nearby. By the way, it’s pronounced No-truh Dahm ( the “o ” in No is like the “o” in hot ) . TV hosts , especially sportcasters are perpetuating this Noter Deym pronunciation. Well, there’s nothing we can do to correct Los Angeles. But it’s pronounced Los An-he-les. Sorry for nitpicking. lol

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.City dwellers should drive this smart car here in the US. It doesn’t occupy too much space, and doesn’t consume too much gasoline. It’s green. This was actually the very first thing I noticed in Europe. The cars were small, especially in Italy and the Netherlands.

*ponders*

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed that there are countries where the word “The ” is placed before the name of the country. Ex: the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and , oh, yeah, the Philippines. In fact, these are the only countries that I know of that have ” THE ” before the name. We don’t say, in the Japan, in the Indonesia, in the England, in the China , in the Italy, etc. It does sound awkward, doesn;t it?

.This is the avenue going to the famous Arc de Triomphe

.The building of this arch was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon to honor those who died during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It’s located on the right bank of the Seine River.

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This is all for now, folks. Next posts will feature The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and yes, the Mona Lisa.

It’s time to post about my Paris tour, so I’ll cut my chatting short. ( Like that’s gonna happen, but I’ll try. He he he…. I know, I’m so chatty. )

Three days ago, I fainted at my workplace due to heatstroke. It was more like a black-out. You see, for almost a week now, we’ve been getting 3 digit temperatures here in our neck of the woods. Yesterday, the 4th of July, the temperature was 108F. ( ~ 42 C ). On the day I blacked out, the temp was 110F . Driving to work was worse for me because the A/C in my car was not working… and well, you know how it is, the temp in the car is usually 10 degrees higher initially. Opening the windows didn’t help at all. It was a tortuous 30 minute drive to my workplace. Anyway, as soon as I got out of the car, I felt a bit woozy, then as I was walking to the store, I knew I was about to black out. First, my vision turned greenish- orangy, then in slow motion, it turned grayish. It was thru sheer will power that I managed not to collapse on the pavement. As soon as I reached the store entrance , I let go and keeled over. My co-workers called 911. The paramedics came and easily revived me. When I came to, the paramedic asked if I had breakfast before I came to work. I said ” Yes, I ate a big Sio-Pao.” They all laughed. He he…. I thought that was funny too. I mean, I could have just said, ” Yes, I did “, or just nodded . I’m sure they didn’t even know what a Sio-Pao is. Well, that’s a meatbun.
When the paramedics left, I just had to ask my co-workers, ” Guys, was my nouth open? Did I drool? Did the cute paramedic see something inappropriate?” ( I was wearing a stretch hip -hugging mini skirt ) Anyway, that was actually the 3rd time something like this happened to me, so I knew what was coming. Oh, well, tough luck. I’m one of those who are prone to heatstrokes.

But honestly, it wasn’t just my sensitiveness ( or is it sensitivity ? ) to heat that I blacked out. That day, I didn’t get to sleep at all….. not a wink. Why, you ask. Well, I was reading a manga but I didn’t like where the story was going and got really p*ssed at and agitated by the main guy’s douchebaggery . Pardon the language but I was like this after reading…..
And I thought ” I need a spoiler ! A spoiler !!!! I wanna know what happens ! I need to find the rawssssss!!!! ! ” I did find the raws but , of course it was in Japanese. Normally I get the story just by looking at the drawings, but this time, I wanted to know what they’re saying. So I looked for another language that I could Google translate to English, and found one in French..

Oh, Sweet revenge ! It was so satisfying to know that the main guy gets his comeuppance later in the story. But of course , he still gets a happy ending with the main girl. Boooo !

So, on to gay Paree !!
I don’t think Paris and the Eiffel Tower need an introduction. So I’ll just post pictures if that’s okay with you.

Above is the famous Seine River, just a few meters from the tower.

You know, I don’t know if this is true all over Europe but I noticed something in France. Most of the outdoor cafes have chairs facing the street. I wonder if this is for people- watching.

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This is the Monpartnasse area, located on the Left bank of the Seine River. Montpartnasse used to be the meeting ground of artists from all over the world, mostly penniless, but they all thrived happily in poverty…. Picasso, Chagall, Ernest Hemingway,Degas, Salvador Dali, Diego Rivera, henri Rousseau, James Joyce, Modigliani. The artists/painters used to sell their paintings for a few francs for food. Now their works are worth millions of Euros.

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This was our first day in Paris. We arrived in the afternoon, walked around Montpartnasse, had coffee and petit fours at a sidewalk cafe, checked out the outdoor artists’ market, ( most of the shops were closed… it was a Sunday afternoon ), after which we went to see The Eiffel Tower. We’d go to the tower three times during our stay in Paris, which was 3 days.

It’s my summer vacation . Yay ! Well, it’s June 9 today. Last year , June 9, 2012, was the day we flew to Europe for our 30 day tour. I was really hoping I could end my travelogue post today, the anniversary of our trip, but I guess not. * sets aside the fireworks, disappointed* You’d think I’d have more time to blog, read other people’s blogs, more time for stuff I’d like to do, which is to play video games, read books, read mangas, watch TV, etc. and oh, yeah, post more often, but no, my employer had the temerity to promote me to a managerial position. Now, don’t get impressed with the title. It just means I work longer hours supervising 3 hapless sales clerks, I keep the keys, and handle some confidential store stuff. It’s a high end clothes store, though. A simple women’s Tshirt that sells for $ 5 at walMart, we sell for over $100.00. We have walk -in customers, and we have clients. Clients come by appintments, and they’re usually businessmen from overseas who choose the clothes themselves. ( We wear each dress and show it off to the client. I happen to be the favorite of Asian shoppers , the big spenders from Indonesia,Shanghai, HongKong, Malaysia, Singapore , and Japan. I have the body size of an Asian girl, ( I’m size 1 ) so I’m the one who gets to show off the dresses. If I’m lucky, I get a free dress. * blows my own horn * . I get the highest sales every month,too. * beats drum*

And well, that’s not the only job I have. I have another one…. I work at an ice cream parlor, scooping ice cream at Baskin and Robbins…. my very, very first job. I’m loyal to Kamal, my boss, even if she hasn’t given me a raise for years. ( So, okay , I got one teeny raise…. 25 cents an hour….. Booooo ! ! ) But, I’m the only one she trusts to handle money, and my work hours are flexible. I’m grateful to her for the work she gives me, at my own convenience.
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One reader asked me about Monsanto. I’ve heard of it, but don’t know anything about it. I read up , but gave up trying to know. This corporation is huge ! ! First off, what is Monsanto? According to Wikipedia, Monsanto is a ” publicly traded American multinational biotechnology corporation and is the leading producer of genetically engineered seed ( GE) and now known as GMO ( genetically modified organism).” It is considered by purists to be an ” evil” corporation that breeds modified seeds that are detrimental to humanity’s health.

I’m an environmentalist, a tree- hugger, if you will, but I’m not sure if I can totally side with the anti-GMOs . I have to be honest…… my sister, a microbiologist, had applied for a job at Monsanto. She didn’t get it, but will apply again when a position opens. She currently works for an establishment that does chemical anlysis of food products, fresh produce and manufactured ones.( Department of Analytical Chemistry ) I’m majoring in Molecular Microbiology, and when I graduate , hopefully this school year, I hope to follow my sister’s career.

There;s a research facilty in the Philippines, the IRRI ( International Rice Research Institute ) that is based in the Philippines, at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna. According to Wikipedia, the main goal of IRRI is ” to find sustainable ways to improve the well-being of rice farmers and consumers, as well as the environment.” The IRRI is a pioneer in genetic diversification and breeding of rice to improve yield, and grow more resistant to drought and pests , and breeds that are less likely to ” fall over”. While Monsanto started in the 90’s, IRRI was launched much earlier, in late 60’s. According to Wikepedia, ” 60% of the world’s rice area is planted to IRRI -bred rice varieties or their progenies.” The difference between IRRI and Monsanto is that IRRI is non-profit. Seeds have been distributed at no cost to rice farmers all over Asia. Since then, farmers in Asia have been planting high yielding varieties of rice. This helps feed the growing population of Asia, and so far, we have not seen anyone who has grown a horn or two heads. This is the reason why I cannot make a judgement on what Monsanto is doing. Not all of these biotech researches are bad, as long as they don’t make something like Soylent Green. What is Soylent Green, you ask. Soylent Green is a 1973 science fiction film that depicts an overpopulated earth, not much food, and available food is rationed, produced by Soylent Corporation, and whose product, Soylent Green, is advertised as high energy plankton. However, they discover that Soylent Green foods are made up of human remains. They are people.

Oh, by the way, Monsanto sells seeds to practically every farmer in America. It has captured the market, and worse, the seeds are ” copyrighted and patented” . In other words, the farmer cannot save seeds for next planting. He has to buy new ones.

* ponders*
If I were a reader of this post, I’d get bored and stop reading halfway. Oh, well. Better get back to the main topic of this post…. my tour of Bordeaux, France. Actually, I don’t have much material ( photos) of Bordeaux. We merely stopped for lunch there and lingered for about 4 hours.

Although I saw very little of Bordeaux, what I did see was impressive. <a
Bordeaux is the major wine capital of the world. No wine can be labeled as Bordeaux wine unless it’s actually produced in Bordeaux..Bordeaux wine has come to mean red wine as 90% of Bordeaux wines are red. Claret is English red wine. Excusez- moi, but I’m not a wine aficionado so I’m as clueless as the peon beside me.

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There’s a flea market going on in this photo.

Porte Cailhau
Below photo is the Place de la Bourse
Below is the Place de la Bourse at night
Bordeaux has one of Europe’s biggest 18th century urban areas, with buildings still intact, and all the buildings that you see here are in one area. The buildings are impressive.

In case you haven’t noticed, the architectural designs of the 18th century buildings shown here are almost identical.
These buildings must have looked awesome to a person from a small town in the 1700’s.

Above is the column of the Girondins on the Esplanade des Quinconces. It is the largest square in Europe.
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Holy s*it! Look, Ma, a couple kissing ! Oooops, pardon my French.

Anyway, above photo is Rue Sainte-Catherine, one of the longest pedestrian only shopping street in Europe. ( I’ve seen this kind of shopping mall in Barcelona and Madrid )
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The photo below was our group’s meeting place….. a toilet at the carpark….. a nice place to end our tour of Bordeaux.

*ponders*

I wonder why we call a kiss a French Kiss. It was supposed to have originated in the 1920’s (after WW1) when American soldiers came home and showed their wives and girlfriends how the French kissed. I guess, when Americans kissed before that time, they only locked their dry lips together. Then they found exchanging saliva and slipping their tongues into each other’s mouths more erotic. I bet they also brought home French lingeries for their wives. Throw away the bloomers and cotton panties , honey, and wear this…Ooooh, French lace! .

Aaaah, this post is so moi. I talked about my boring job, genetically modified organisms, food made of people, Bordeaux, France, wines, toilet, underwears, and French kiss…. all packed in one post. Good job, Ren., good job. You did it again.